MASAH. ARAB., HES. Anointing, a form of installation practised in Europe, but which seems to have been of eastern origin. Masih of the Arabs forms the Hebrew Messiah, meaning the anointed one. In Rajputana, anointing appears to have been in all ages the mode of installation. The unguent on this occasion is of sandal-wood and atar of roses made into a paste or very thick ointment, of which a little is placed upon the forehead with the middle finger of the right hand, and then the jewels, the aigrette, and necklace are tied on. Amongst the earliest notices of this ceremonial is that in Genesis xxviii., when Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. The Brahmans and Hindus anoint their stone images with oil before bathing, and some anoint them with sweet-scented oil. This practice probably arises out of the customs of the Hindus, and is not necessarily to be referred to their idolatry. Anointing persons as an act of homage has been transferred to their idols. There are resemblances betwixt the Jewish and Hindu methods of, and times for, anointing. Oil is applied to the crown of the head till it reaches all the limbs ; it is called abhyanga, which is noticed in Psalm cxxxiii.
2, It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that went down to the skirts of his garment.' Again, we are told in Mark xiv. 3 that there came a woman, having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious ; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head ; and pouring sweet scented oil on the head is common amongst the Hindus. At the close of the festival in honour of Durga, the Hindu .races worship the unmarried daughters of Brahmans, and amongst other cere monies pour sweet-scented oil on their heads. Amongst the Hindus the ceremonial is attended to after sickness, which in Psalm xlv. 7 is mentioned thus : Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness.' And Hindus, when fasting, or in sickness or sorrow, abstain from the daily anoint ing of the body With oil, and again anoint on recovery, as in 2 Samuel xii. 20, where David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped.' Bathing, anointing the body with oil, and changing the apparel, are, among the Hindus, the first outward signs of coming out of a state of mourning or sick ness.— Ward, Ilindoos ; Tod's Rajasthan, ii. 568.